Navigating Aliyah: Challenges Faced by an Applicant with a Criminal Record
Immigrating to Israel with a criminal record - unreasonable delay in dealing with appeals
Israel is a country built on Aliyah. The purpose of the Zionist project was to allow the Jews of the world to live in a national homeland established for their safety. On the other hand, Israel, like any country, has the right to refuse the immigration of a person who may endanger public safety, partly due to a criminal record.
The Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for immigration to Israel, tends to automatically reject immigration applications from a person with a criminal record. Most applicants will forgo citizenship in a country that does not open welcome them. The stubborn ones are required to contact immigration experts to initiate a lengthy process aimed at proving they do not pose a threat to public safety in Israel.
But what happens when the Ministry of Interior realizes it cannot prove that the applicant poses a danger and simply "drags out" the story, does not respond, requests additional information (repeatedly asking for documents that were already provided), demands documents that are impossible to obtain, and so on? Even in regular proceedings, the immigration process is lengthy – and when officials want to exhaust the applicant and waste their time, the handling of the request can take many years, unless an expert immigration lawyer intervenes.
In this case, handled by attorney Alva Kolan from our office, we managed to obtain a court ruling requiring a decision within 60 days regarding the immigration application, and the judge even awarded costs of 15,000 NIS due to the intentional foot-dragging by the Ministry of Interior. However, even this ruling did not help, and the Ministry of Interior did not issue its decision within the 60 days set by the court. Further developments left the decision irrelevant, but we thought it worth recapping for our clients.
Background – Drug Offense in 2000
Back in the distant 20th century, Cordell Wolfson, a United States citizen, was caught with 15 grams of cocaine. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years, with 7.5 years in prison and 7.5 years on probation. Cordell began serving his sentence in 2005 and, after an appeal, was released in a plea deal in 2010.
Extended stays in US prisons usually do not contribute to reintegration into society, but Cordell persisted in his desire to become an exemplary citizen. During his incarceration, he taught himself the legal intricacies that could help appeal his sentence, and after his release he became a sought-after professional and a pillar of the community. Together with his wife, Esther Wolfson, he formally converted to Judaism and submitted an immigration application in 2017.
How to Make Aliyah with a Criminal Record?
According to the Law of Return, every Jew is entitled to immigrate to Israel "unless" (among other reasons) they may "endanger public safety." The mere existence of a criminal record should not be a reason for refusal unless the immigrant poses a threat to public safety – the likelihood that they will engage in criminal activity after immigration.
How to Prove That a Person Convicted of a Crime is Not Dangerous to "Public Safety"?
It involves a variety of considerations – for example, the "Change of Status from Tourist to Immigrant" procedure mentions previous offenses, the severity of the offense, the length of the prison sentence imposed, the applicant’s age at the time of the offense, and their behavior since.
How to Practically Prove Someone is “Safe”?
As mentioned above, the Ministry of Interior usually automatically rejects immigration applications from those with a criminal record. This was also the case for Cordell and Esther, whose application was rejected together (after many years, an explanation was provided - the Population Authority does not want to separate the family by approving immigration for only one spouse, even though Esther obviously does not have a criminal record. On the other hand, it was clear that it would be easier for Esther to fight Cordell’s immigration denial if she were an Israeli citizen residing in Israel).
The couple did not give up and contacted our office for help. We set out to prove that while Cordell has a criminal record, it was a one-time slip, and since his release, he has dedicated his life to his family and clearly lives a normative life. In 2018, we submitted to the Population Authority:
- A criminal record certificate confirming that Cordell has not been arrested or imprisoned since his release.
- A psychiatric opinion regarding Cordell’s rehabilitation, integration into society, and lack of criminal tendencies.
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- A public defender’s opinion from the state where Cordell was convicted, regarding the prison sentence imposed on him, the nature of the offense, and the nature of the appeal following which the state agreed to his release. It also confirmed that Cordell had never been arrested or imprisoned for any other offense, neither before nor after his imprisonment.
- A legal expert opinion on foreign law (specific US state) confirming that the public defender’s opinion was properly written.
What Was the Ministry of Interior’s Response?
At this point, theoretically, the story should have ended either with the approval of the couple’s immigration eligibility and the granting of citizenship or, alternatively, with the rejection of the application and an appeal from our office.
The Ministry of Interior found a third way. The application encountered constant delays, requests for additional documents, and then a demand to resubmit information that had already been provided. Each “response” took several months, and in the meantime – “either the sultan will die, or the donkey will die”. The couple will give up, be exhausted, and eventually forgo their immigration eligibility.
Details of the Procedure
After the first rejection in 2018, an internal appeal was filed (an appeal to be reviewed at the Population Authority’s headquarters). In 2020, a petition was submitted to the court due to the lack of a decision on the internal appeal. In 2021, we filed another petition, and the court required the Population Authority to respond within 45 days. At this point, the officials (for the second, third, or fourth time) “noticed” Cordell’s criminal record, and we were asked to resubmit all the documents that had already been submitted.
Submitting these documents again did not help, and we had to approach the Jerusalem Administrative Court with another petition for lack of response, demanding a final decision on acceptance or rejection. We requested not to allow a last-minute response to the appeal with a request for more documents, as had been done previously.
Since this was the third petition on the same subject, the court found it “inevitable” to give an immediate response to the application within 60 days and awarded the couple costs of 15,000 NIS.
It is worth noting that the favorable judgment and the demand for an expedited response to the application were mainly achieved because the handling of the application was in the hands of experts, and the court was convinced that at every stage, all the requested documents were submitted in full, and that the delay by the Population Authority in providing a response was unprofessional or unreasonable. Particularly risible was the claim that the latest delay was due to the outbreak of the 2023 Swords of Iron war.
The Not-Quite Happy Ending:
Unfortunately, though we had all the necessary prerequisites to triumph, the case came to an end when the couple got a divorce due to unrelated reasons, and Esther successfully made Aliyah to Israel. Essentially, the MoI’s strategy paid off, though not before they were forced to pay the couple’s expenses.
Still, this case teaches us about the patience required in dealing with the Ministry of the Interior and the importance of using expert lawyers in the field of immigration to Israel. Decker, Pex, Levi is a law firm with branches in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, specializing in immigration and foreign passports, providing opinions in foreign law, including American law, regulating status in Israel, relocation, and more.
The office staff is excited to help all those who are entitled to make Aliyah to Israel, and especially these days, it is good to see that some choose to move the center of their lives to Israel and contribute to the country.
*For your attention, the information on this page does not constitute advice or a recommendation to take action or avoid taking action. Anyone relying on the information does so at their own risk. The correctness of the information may change from time to time.
Sasha Kishko assisted in the preparation of the article